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Essay / The Nature of the Natural - 1379
Nature has been widely expressed through the color green in art, film, photography and life. For some of us, nature is a memory; a green place buried in our minds during a vacation to the redwoods, an apple orchard, the vegetable garden or a television program on planet Earth. It is no coincidence that nature simultaneously awakens all our senses and makes us aware of its presence. There are many cultural movements today that defend the natural habitat; with sincere attempts to hold corporations accountable for their negligent destruction of “nature.” The term “nature” is abstract because it captures ideas beyond our everyday perceptions. When we think of naturalness, we can also think of similar things; sunshine, trees, gardens or fresh strawberries. The term has the power of its “inherent” good; Natural is “in essence” pure. “Natural” functions as an adjective, defined by Webster’s Dictionary as “existing in or formed by nature, as opposed to artificial.” Opposed to natural is “artificial,” which also has various interpretations, but is commonly used to describe something that is “man-made.” In this context, language can be classified as artificial; it is a human creation in that humans develop words and slang to interact with each other. Yet when we look at the term “nature,” the double bind is that the language itself is used to describe the abstract concept of “nature” or “natural.” One must intrinsically believe in the power of “nature” through experience for the concept of “nature” or “natural” to exist outside of language. Because the terms are abstract, nature relates notably through experience, through interpretations that draw on various images from memory. The other way is to go through the other psychological pleasure... middle of paper ... making them biodegradable and keeping them pure and healthy without processing them in a factory. It's better for the environment. But what happens if your products no longer work or no longer meet their intended use? In conclusion, the term “natural” implies a specific ideology and belief behind the word, as it essentially refers to the origin of something. When we think about an origin, we get into religious beliefs, scientific beliefs, cultural beliefs, etc. Overall, the troubling problem behind the use of the term "natural" in relation to foods is that there is no definition specified by the FDA, and that the origin of faith in a natural diet and healthy has a concrete definition. Perhaps the problem with using the term "natural" lies in its many implications and its perfect connection to ideas of nature, the past and the world that we perhaps only remember as a memory..